Lerala boss escapes jail time in Australia

Alexander, who is believed to be of Russian origin, is the principal player in the Lerala Diamond Mine saga, where more than 130 workers were left jobless last June when the mine was abruptly closed.

Alexander, through his companies, is presently wrestling with government over a 53,000 carat parcel of diamonds, liquidators here believe was secreted out of the company just before Lerala closed in order to put the stones out of reach of other creditors.